Modern communication networks are growing in size and complexity. As the number of consumers increases and services evolve in sophistication, the performance of these networks can degrade, in part, from link and/or equipment failure. Telecommunication networks rely on connection-oriented (e.g., circuit-switched systems), to transport voice traffic as well as data traffic. Such networks utilize digital cross-connect systems (DXC or DCS) to multiplex and switch low-data rate signals onto higher speed connections. Additionally, DXCs provide a capability to switch paths to avoid network faults, for example. In typical carrier networks, the number of DXCs can be quite large, resulting in numerous alternate paths through the network. Consequently, tracking and determining the circuits and paths throughout the network, particularly if different networks are involved, can be daunting. Traditionally, such determination of paths and associated switching among the paths are highly inefficient and manually intensive.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that provides for efficiently determining alternate paths in a communications network.